Sri Lankan govt condemns Kandy riots

Members of the military lower the Sri Lankan national flag in the evening at Galle Face Green in Colombo October 19, 2011. Defence spending is forecast to grow by 6.9 percent, a new appropriations bill showed on Tuesday. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte (SRI LANKA - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS BUSINESS)

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Colombo [Sri Lanka], Mar 6 (ANI): The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday strongly and unequivocally condemned the recent sporadic incidents of violence that had sparked off in Ampara and Digana near Kandy in Eastern Province in the country.

The riots in Kandy led to the creation of communal disharmony following which some places of worship, residences and businesses were damaged.

It also condemned the hate and mischievous misinformation campaigns carried out by some people, especially via social media, targeting the Muslim community in particular and others as well, in order to create disharmony among communities and inciting violence. It also urged every Sri Lankan citizen to desist from falling prey to such hate and misinformation campaigns respectively.

“As a country that had suffered by acts of violence for nearly three decades, we as a nation should desist from a repetition of such,” the country’s Department of Government Information said in a statement.

At the National Security Council meeting held on Monday, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena ordered the security forces and the police to enforce law and order and to take immediate action to counter any acts of violence affecting any community, in liaison with the government agents or divisional secretaries and other district administrative authorities of Sri Lanka.

“Already they are working in unity to ensure the full and impartial enforcement of the law to protect all communities against any attacks that create communal and religious disharmony,” the statement signed by Sudarshana Gunawardhana, the Director General of Government Information said.

The statement emphasised that the Sri Lankan government will not hesitate to take firm and stern action against perpetrators found engaged in crimes and violation in law and order.

The Sri Lankan government has also urged for a total cooperation from all citizens irrespective of any communal and religious differences to build a country that is stable, peaceful and progressive, where diversity is respected and every individual has the opportunity to enjoy all freedoms that are the rights of equal citizenship.

“Every Sri Lankan citizen inclusive of the clergy, politicians, social leaders, civil societies and media should and must deplore any violence and must co-operate to bring peace and harmony to achieve reconciliation,” the statement concluded.

The Sri Lankan government earlier on Tuesday imposed a state of emergency for 10 days to control law and order in the country.

Several houses and business establishments in the district, belonging to minority Muslim community, were burnt on Monday while the body of a young man was found inside a burnt house on Tuesday.

A curfew was reimposed on Monday in two police divisions of Kandy district till Wednesday morning following the tense situation.

More than two dozen arrests have been made so far, following the violence against the minority Muslim community in Kandy district which claimed two lives.

Members of the Buddhist community held protests outside a police station in Kandy demanding the release of its people who were arrested in the riots.

The police have said that the special security arrangements put in place in the areas will continue and the country’s Special Task Force (STF) has been deployed to maintain peace. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI